If you’re looking for a job, you want to make sure you do everything you can to get a leg ahead. In addition to crafting a top-notch CV and sparkling cover letter and prepping properly for any interviews you might have, you should strongly consider creating your own personal website. Whether you know how to make your own website or not, putting one together and updating it regularly doesn’t have to take much time and could be the thing that puts you over the line with those looking to hire.
You can fill your site with all sorts of amazing aspects that can help you in your pursuit of employment. Include examples of your work or links to stories about projects you’ve worked on. Or have an area in which you discuss important topics pertaining to the types of roles you’re looking to nail down. There are stacks of different ways you can go about it.
Here are a few reasons why it could be a dynamite idea to make your own website and how such a resource could prove invaluable to your job search.
1) A personal website can show your skills
While including your CV and a list of courses and certifications you’ve completed on your personal website is a given, the site itself can also do a lot of speaking for you. Having a clean, smart site can be a sign that you are detail-oriented, something that can be a major benefit in just about any industry. You can also display some of your practical skills when you make your own website. If you’re a digital graphics wiz, make sure anybody looking at your site is well aware of that fact. Even the foundational parts of the site, such as its creation and the writing within it, can help exhibit what you can do. As long as you don’t sacrifice user experience, you should be aiming to show off all the tools in your toolbox.
2) It can share your knowledge of today’s business world
While your CV and interviews will hopefully do a great job of helping you share your knowledge, the writing on your personal website can help do the same. If you’re familiar with concepts such as Managed IT services and how they can help businesses, use blog posts on your personal website as a forum for discussing how. Have opinions on a particular article that hit the internet? Link to it and share your thoughts. Such items show that you’re plugged into today’s business landscape and willing and able to analyse what’s happening around you.
3) It can keep you sharp
Using your time in between jobs to make your own website can be greatly beneficial. Writing and thinking about pertinent topics will keep you involved in the industry even if you aren’t taking home a pay check each week. Besides that, just keeping your brain active can help you stay plugged in to what’s going on around you. This way, you’ll have plenty of ammo when the time comes to have an interview with new prospective employers.
4) It can make it easier for employers
You don’t want to present any roadblocks for those looking to hire. They’re so busy and will often have so many applicants and application materials flying around online or piling up on their desks that even the slightest mishap can mean yours gets lost in the shuffle or taken out of contention. If you make your own website, you can help avoid such a disaster. Instead of risking you missing an email asking for more clarification on some aspect of your CV or interview or a request for more clips or other resources, you can have it all sitting in one convenient place for employers to peruse whenever needed.
5) You can let others speak for you
While having something in your CV about offering contact information for potential recommendations is all well and good, if you make your own website you can include a section for testimonials on your behalf. That way you don’t have to rely on employers and your contacts being able to get in touch with each other. Instead, those looking for some insight on your skills and experience can get it with just a few clicks on your website instead.
Whether you know how to create a website yourself or need somebody’s help putting it together, having an online presence can help you throughout your job hunt. It could be the reason somebody calls you in for an interview, or could perhaps provide the key bit of information that acts as the icing on the cake of a successful meeting. Whip up a personal site today to give yourself the best chance of getting that job you deserve.
